The crossword solution for the term 'ABLE WAS I ___ I SAW ELBA' is 'ERE' (3 letters). This is a reference to the famous line from the poem 'The Raven' by Edgar Allan Poe, which reads 'Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, / Able was I ERE I saw Elba'. The poem is about a man who is visited by a raven, and the line in question is spoken by the man as he reflects on his past.